mediumMultiple Select
CISA Practice Question: An IS auditor is evaluating the effectiveness of…
An IS auditor is evaluating the effectiveness of a backup strategy for a critical database. Which TWO of the following are essential controls to ensure data recoverability?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the difference between backup security controls (encryption, labeling) and backup recoverability controls (offsite storage, restoration testing), so candidates must focus on what actually proves data can be restored, not what merely protects or organizes it.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Storing backups offsite
Option A (storing backups offsite) is essential because it protects the backup copies from the same physical disaster, theft, or site-wide outage that could destroy the primary database and any locally retained media, thereby preserving recoverability. Option C (performing regular restoration tests) is essential because a backup is only proven recoverable when it can actually be restored; periodic restore drills validate media integrity, backup completeness, and the recovery procedures and RTO/RPO assumptions. The unmarked options do not belong: encrypting backup tapes (B) is a confidentiality control that protects data at rest but does not by itself ensure the data can be recovered, labeling tapes with dates (D) is merely a media-management aid, and using high-capacity media (E) is a capacity/efficiency choice unrelated to recoverability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Storing backups offsite
Why this is correct
Offsite storage protects backups from site-wide loss—fire, flood or theft—that would destroy production data and local copies simultaneously. This directly satisfies the recoverability requirement by ensuring a surviving copy exists after a primary-site disaster, enabling restoration elsewhere. It complements, but does not replace, encryption, integrity verification and periodic restore testing.
- ✗
Encrypting backup tapes
Why it's wrong here
Encryption protects confidentiality in transit and at rest but does nothing to guarantee that backups can be restored; it can even obstruct recovery if keys are lost. It is tempting because regulatory and privacy requirements demand protection of backup media, making it the right control for confidentiality of offsite tapes, not for recoverability.
- ✓
Performing regular restoration tests
Why this is correct
Restoration tests verify that backups are readable, complete and can rebuild the database within the recovery time objective. Untested backups may fail silently due to media degradation, corrupted catalogues or missed transaction logs, so periodic recovery rehearsals provide the evidence an IS auditor needs to confirm genuine recoverability.
- ✗
Labeling tapes with dates
Why it's wrong here
Date labels on tapes support rotation and retention tracking but do not verify that data can actually be restored. It tempts as an easy inventory control, yet recoverability demands restore testing and offsite copies; labelling alone leaves integrity and completeness unproven.
- ✗
Using high-capacity media
Why it's wrong here
Capacity alone does not restore data; recoverability depends on verified restore testing and retention of generations, not media size. High-capacity media is tempting because it reduces tape or disk count and cost per gigabyte in large-volume backup regimes, but it addresses storage economics rather than the integrity and restorability of the backup itself.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
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